Star-Filled Timelines
by FearieDancer
Summary: The first time Leila met him was when she was three... All through her life, Leila has been finding the mysterious Doctor...Who is he to her, and what is she to him? 11th Doctor/OC, slightly AU-ish since the Ponds aren't in it.


Okay, in case you were confused as to the title 'Star-Filled Timelines', Leila and Twyla mean 'star'...So yes. Sneaky me!  
Anyhoo, enjoy! ~FearieDancer  
A/N: Somone pointed out a fault in my story...The Doctor somehow magically became dry after he'd been soaked XD It's fixed now, thank you to The Wild Wild Whovian for pointing that out for me! It's all fixed now however...On with the story!

* * *

The first time Leila met him was when she was three. She was playing at the local beach with her parents, and had ran off to look in the rock pools and collect shells. She was running along, almost graceful despite being small and toddler-chubby, her dark curls bouncing in the wind when she rammed into someone's knees. She looked up to see a funny-looking man with floppy dark brown hair, green eyes and a red bowtie. He was wearing a tweed jacket, brown trousers, red braces and a white shirt. Any normal three year old would, after falling over, would have ran away or started crying. Instead, Leila just smiled at the man and offered him a pretty blue shell she'd found. The Doctor looked at her, a little confused. She stretched her hand up to him even more.

"Shell. For you!" she lisped, grinning. The man realised what she wanted, took the shell off her and put it in his pocket.

"Thank you. I'll keep it safe. I'm the Doctor." He offered the three year old his hand, which she grabbed hold of.

"Me Leila!" she had cried. "Pick up." She blinked at the Doctor, holding her arms up. The Doctor just looked at her. Leila stared at him, her innocent blue eyes hardening just a little bit before the Doctor rolled his eyes and scooped her up. She giggled and grabbed onto a lock of his dark hair.

"Pwetty. Me like." Leila rubbed her little face into his hair and settled onto his shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to your parents, little one?" the Doctor bounced her on his hip.

"Not my parents." Leila shook her head.

"Oh. I see." Leila did not have to explain to the Doctor in three-year-old speak that she was adopted. He understood already. He just hugged the little girl a little more and carried her back to her parents, while she jabbered non-stop to him about random, nonsensical things that are only truly understood by toddlers. And the Doctor of course – he can speak toddler.

* * *

The second time Leila saw him, she was eight, and with a group of friends. They were playing on the beach when Leila heard a sound she'd often dreamed of, but did not know what it meant. One of the boys kicked the ball up into a sand dune and Leila went to get it. There he was, dark hair blowing in the breeze, same bright red bowtie as he had when she was three.

"You." Leila breathed. "I know you…" she trailed off, just staring at him.

"I'm the Doctor." the Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets and grinned. "You're Leila."

"I know…You were the man on the beach!" Leila exclaimed. "I gave you a shell! You better still have it. That was a gift."

"Oh course I've still got it! It's just here, in my pocket!" the Doctor reached into his first pocket but could not find the shell. "Or not…One second…" the Doctor searched all his pockets furiously before finding the shell. "There!" he brandished the small black and blue shell triumphantly.

"You should keep it…That way if I see you again, I'll know it's you." Leila smiled at her new friend.

"Alright then." the Doctor grinned back. "Oh, have to go, got to get the Ponds and find something to do." And off he ran, leaving a bemused Leila wondering who or what on earth 'the Ponds' were.

* * *

Leila met him again, on the beach, when she was fourteen. She had been crying over some lad when she'd heard a shrieking noise and, not five minutes later, the Doctor had rushed over to her and scooped her up in a hug. He never once spoke while tears ran down her face and streaked it with mascara. He did not complain when her tears stained his jacket, just held her until she had stopped.

"I-I'm s-sorry f-for tha-at." Leila hiccupped, drawing great shuddering breaths.

"It's okay, little one. Now, why were you crying, huh?" the Doctor nudged Leila lightly.

"Oh, n-nothing." Leila chuckled nervously.

"It couldn't be nothing to make you cry like that." the Doctor said, looking into her eyes. "What's up?"

"It's just this boy, you know…" Leila started playing with her hoodie sleeves, a habit she got when she was nervous.

"Ah…Males…" the Doctor nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Alright." Leila sighed. "Well, we've been friends for a while and I really liked him, and he said he liked me, but he _didn't_ and now he's going out with Beth and it's not _fair_." Leila cried, tears of anger springing to her eyes.

"There there…" the Doctor patted Leila on the shoulder awkwardly. "He's just a boy; after all…You don't need him."

"I thought I did." Leila sighed sulkily. "What if no boys ever love me?"

"Oh, no, don't worry about that! I'm sure they will…I know they will!" Leila didn't quite catch what The Doctor mumbled after this but it sounded oddly like 'I will.' She decided to ignore this.

"Thanks. You always turn up randomly, but I don't mind. As long as I see you every once in a while, I don't mind." Leila smiled up at the Doctor, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"I'll come back, Leila, don't you worry." the Doctor promised. "I need to go now, though, I'm sorry. I will be back though, I swear."

"I know you will." Leila smiled ruefully. "Goodbye, Doctor."

"Bye!" The Doctor grinned and ran towards the TARDIS.

* * *

Leila was sixteen the next time she saw the Doctor. She was stood, in her room, finishing doing her hair when the familiar whizzing, hissing noise of the TARDIS filled her room. She grinned and turned around to face…Nothing. She looked around, confused, until she heard a distinctly male voice screaming from her en suite and the sound of running water. She laughed to herself and went to save the Doctor.

"Having a nice shower?" Leila asked, grinning, as she saw the Doctor in a crumpled heap in her bath, being slowly soaked by her shower. The Doctor looked up, and his eyes widened. Leila had grown into a beautiful young woman – well, she would soon be more than a woman, but she was not to know of that yet – but that was not what he was gasping at. She had dyed her hair an amazing, vibrant TARDIS-blue colour.

"Nice hair." the Doctor gulped. It was longer, straight and Leila had a big, swooping fringe over her right eye.

"Thanks." Leila giggled, fluffing her hair up a little. She was wearing a short, strapless blue dress with black lace over it, the Doctor noticed.

"What's the occasion?" the Doctor asked, being hauled out of the bath by Leila.

"Oh…Just my prom…" Leila blushed slightly.

"Ah. Prom." the Doctor nodded. "Erm…Got a date?"

"No…" Leila sighed. "You lied to me, no boys have loved me."

"No boys have loved you _yet_." the Doctor amended. "They will, I promise. Just be patient. In the meantime…I will happily escort you to your prom Miss Leila!"

"Really?!" Leila was delighted. When she was little, she thought of the Doctor as an amazing stranger who visited infrequently. She had looked forward to their meetings, of course, but since the episode on the beach, her thoughts about him had been a little more than friendly.

"Naturally. That's what friends are for, eh?" the Doctor did not miss Leila's face falling at the word 'friends' and he smiled to himself.

"Of course." Leila giggled. "You can borrow one of my dad's suits if you want…"

"What would I want to do that for?" the Doctor scrunched his face up. "This is perfectly acceptable formal attire, I'll have you know!"

"You're soaking." Leila remarked, folding her arms. The Doctor looked down and realized that he was indeed soaking and dripping water all over Leila's floor.

"Ah." he said. "So I am...Erm...Two seconds!" The Doctor ran into the TARDIS, leaving a giggling and bemused Leila standing there. He rushed back out a few minutes later, dressed in the same tweed jacket, white shirt and red braces, but with a blue bowtie that matched Leila's dress.

"Look! All dry!" he spun around and grinned like a five year old.

"Yes, but it's black tie for the lads. You'll stick out like a sore thumb!" Leila shook her head, still laughing.

"Oh Leila. Leila, Leila, Leila." the Doctor shook his head. "That has _never_ bothered me."

* * *

Leila and the Doctor caused quite a hit at Leila's prom. As Leila had entered the decorated room with a strange man, many heads had turned at both Leila's hair, and her mysterious guest. Leila waved to a couple of people, trying to be cool and nonchalant when really her heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's wing.

"Leila!" a girl squealed and ran up to them, enveloping Leila in a giant hug that nearly knocked her over.

"Hey, honey!" said a very squished Leila. "How're you doing?"

"Fine! Who's this?" Leila's friend winked at Leila, who blushed scarlet.

"Cassie, this is the Doctor. Doctor, this is Cassie." Leila introduced them to each other.

"Hello!" the Doctor grinned.

"Hi, now, Leila and I just need to go…Over there…" Cassie gestured to a little alcove across the room.

"Alright…I'll just stay here, shall I?" the Doctor nodded, twiddling his thumbs. Cassie gave him a thumbs up and dragged Leila over to the alcove.

"Who is _that_?!" Cassie squealed. "He's h-o-t!"

"I know, I know." Leila shook her head at Cassie.

"He's perfect for you, I can tell. Just look at him! How old is he, though? Are you going out? Have you snogged him?" Cassie babbled.

"Thanks Cass! I don't know how old he is, in his twenties at least. No, we're not, unfortunately, and no, I've not! I'd love to though." Leila giggled.

"Well snog him tonight, or I will!" Cassie threatened. "Now, get back to that steaming hot slice of man pie!" Leila giggled again and ran back to where the Doctor was stood.

"Sorry about that…She's a bit mad." Leila apologized.

"Never mind. Now, shall we dance?" the Doctor offered Leila his arm. She smiled at him.

"Yes, we shall." She took his arm and led him over to the dance floor.

It was late, after the prom, when Leila and the Doctor got back. Leila snuck past her parents with the Doctor, ran up the stairs and then slammed her door shut.

"I had fun tonight…Thanks." Leila smiled happily at the Doctor.

"You're very welcome. It was my pleasure." the Doctor smiled back.

"Do I get a proper goodbye now?" Leila asked, her heart beating rapidly. _This is it_, she thought.

"Of course. Come here." the Doctor held his arms out awkwardly for a hug. Leila let herself be enveloped by him. He smelled amazing, of what Leila could not stay, and he was so warm. Leila looked up while they were hugging and stared into his beautiful green eyes.

"Goodbye, Doctor." She whispered, before going on her tiptoes and pressing her lips gently to his. The Doctor was shocked, of course, since her had only just met the three-year-old Leila, but that was not to say he didn't enjoy it.

"Goodbye, Leila." He said when they broke apart. "Things will be…Different when we meet again."

"Okay then." Leila shrugged. She was so happy she could burst.

"Bye!" the Doctor waved, before running into the bathroom. Leila collapsed on her bed, sighing, as the sounds of the TARDIS filled the room.

* * *

It was two years later, when Leila was eighteen, when she saw him again. It was her eighteenth birthday party, but she was stood away from the crowds. There was bunting and garlands of lowers decorating the beach, and she had got so many beautiful gifts, but a little bit of her longed for her lonely traveller. She'd kissed him the last time they met, and he'd seemed to like it – he hadn't pushed her away, anyway. He infected her dreams and her waking hours; it seemed as though she couldn't spend a day without thinking about his gorgeous green eyes or his soft brown hair…She thought she was going mad. She looked out to the sea and smoothed down her dress. Blue had become one her favourite colours and, although the dye had gone from her hair long ago, she still kept a little blue streak in her hair, just for the memories. She twirled it around her finger, staring out to the sea, when a pair of hands shut over her eyes. She squealed.

"Cassie?! Stop it, seriously, you gave me a heart attack!" she laughed, trying to prise the hands away from her face.

"Guess again." The stranger said the grin evident in his voice and Leila squealed.

"Doctor!" she cried joyfully, and spun around to face him. She quickly enveloped him in a warm hug. "I'm so glad you came!"

"Well, I couldn't miss your eighteenth, could I? I've got a gift for you, you know." The Doctor nodded.

"What is it?" Leila asked, grinning. She half expected to give her the shell she'd given to him all those years ago, and yet her produced a pocket watch with the initials L.E. on it.

"What…What is that?" Leila asked. It felt strange, like the pocket watch was calling to her.

"A pocket watch. A very special one. You see, many years ago, I had a very special friend. She meant the world to me, but she had to leave because of a war and become human. So, she locked her consciousness in a pocket watch and told me that, if I found her, to give it to her when she was eighteen at her birthday party. And here I am…Giving it to her." The Doctor handed Leila the pocket watch. The story sounded so familiar, and it tugged at the edges of Leila's brain. She glanced at the pocket watch.

"Here goes nothing…" she muttered to herself, before wrenching the pocket watch open. For a moment she was lost in a stream of golden light. All her memories flooded back – of the time war, of Gallifrey, of having to leave and become a child again…Of the Doctor. Of her Theta.

"Theta…" she sighed, smiling. She was still the same; she just looked a little older. She looked around the same age as the Doctor did, which he supposed was a good thing. To be honest, really, he did not care what she looked like. She was his Twyla, the one his hearts beat for.

"Twyla." He grinned, scooping her up and spinning her around.

"I can remember everything!" she hugged him happily.

"Good." He nodded, before pressing his lips to hers. It had been two years since their last, tentative kiss; this was so much more. The Doctor's hands wrapped around Leila's waist while Leila's hands got lost in his hair. They could have been stood there for lifetimes, but they did not care. All that mattered to them was being so close to each other, feeling each other's bodies pressed against their own, their hearts beating in time.

It was truly the last time Leila met the doctor, because after that, he never let her out of his sight again.


End file.
